Quote from: macivor on February 07, 2017, 12:09:44 AM
is block sanding and polishing ho track, once it is secured in place, a good idea?  I see sun glinting off of well used REAL rails, so it might look good.  I wonder if connectivity would be better?  the clickety clack being silenced would leave ear room for dcc sounds.

I use a Bright Boy Block it works the best for track in my own thoughts... I am thinking of getting a Track cleaning Car though

Quote from: Martha on January 31, 2017, 08:01:03 PM
My Grandson who is 8 and I are attending our first Model Train and Railroad Hobby show in a few weeks. We are novices on this stuff and hope to learn from this experience. We are starting our own 4' x 8' layout so figured this would be a good thing right? Question is is there anything(s) to watch out for such as poorly made products or dealers who try to gyp me. Do they generally take Credit Cards or cash only? Also how much money should I bring? Are we talking a domestic type car or a high end type car? I know depends on what I am looking for right? Fellows, we are just starting out so imagine how the 2 of us will look, deer in the headlights, candy stores, Christmas Eve all come to mind. Some things I'm hoping to look for such as the rock wall Jonathan uses, some mini lights or bulbs, need fire trucks, police cars and first responders. Oh the list goes on.

Any suggestions or watch out for is greatly appreciated.

Like everyone else is saying don't be quick to buy anything do your research as well before you go Some Train show venders sell JUNK... The train show that comes to my area SELL's ALOT of JUNK & not worth the $8.00 admission fee. Go to Vendors that offer Test Track so you can see if Loco's are working & ASK a lot of questions to the vendors watch there body language if the vendor operator seems he does not seem interested in your questions WALK AWAY.... ( For example if you see a box of train cars & a sign everything in this box $ 10.00 chances are it's JUNK don't waist your money )... Trust me it happened to me I thought I was getting a good deal on some rolling stock & every car turned out to be JUNK & I wound up throwing them in the garbage a waist of $9.00 I threw away.

Sit down with your Grandson both decide what type of layout you both want to make...
Most people in this hobby model FREELANCE Layouts LIKE MYSELF I did a Mountain Scene with some Factories & a Passenger Station & a Junk Yard & Farm & Coal Mine I also have a 9 track yard area & I got proper scenery to fit those scenes for example Passenger People for the station...

Some People in this hobby show there Pride in a certain Railroad & Model parts of that area on there layout as well & only use the proper ERA Rolling stock as well to that railroad.

Also I would visit your Local Hobby Store too you can get a lot of help there as well...

I think in some situations with Older Loco's it's not worth investing the money to fix them up with newer decoders on the market or the problems that can pop up installing new decoders into Older Loco's made back in the days the Locos chassis & body's where more narrow & made it hard to install the speakers for the sound....

I have a Older (non-Bachmann) PA-1 Loco it was given to me by a Friend it was a DC Powered Loco So I had a heck of a time finding a Decoder & the Train Shop I took it too had a hard time locating a decoder for it... Well we found one I believe it's an older MRC decoder. The train Tech had some trouble installing the decoder but managed costed me a little more in labor fee's. I wanted Sound too but there was no place to fit a speaker. What I spent on the DCC decoder & labor to have it installed I could of gotten a newer PA-1 with DCC & Sound... Witch I did 2 months later & my new PA-1 even has smoke with it & wish I would of done that in the 1st place instead of the money I spent on my older PA-1...

Like Hunt suggests 3 Truck Shay's are no longer made... If you have a problem with the Shay you will have a hard time finding parts But Yes I do believe they where made in DCC too

WOW Looks good for 20+ year old kit you must of had that kit sitting around for some time LOL... Nice work on building the hole power station. Do you have any plans for inside lighting I think that would add a nice accent to your layout.... I am actually thinking of adding some exterior light poles & on my buildings of my Mine area & cigar factory to add a little more to my layout...

But NICE JOB on the build...

After 4 years of building my layout hear it is in it's current form @ this point my layout is 95% done just added & wired in the accent lighting over this weekend. There is also a few more new photos as well on there too

Thank You for the comments.... I think I am going to buy the E-7-A PRR Loco my layout has bigger than 22" turns So I should be fine with this loco. My passenger cars have no issues so I don't think the E-7-A will have any problems on my layout I just wanted to make sure...

Thanks again

Hi fellow model railroaders...

I was @ my HS yesterday I am thinking of picking up a Bachmann E7-A DCC with sound value package in PRR Tuscan paint scheme. It is a decent sized loco (in length) I was wondering what is the lowest radius turns this loco can handle. I plan on using the Loco for passenger service since I already have PRR Passenger cars & this loco fit's into the ERA & the PRR used the E7-A for passenger service.

How is the reliability on this loco as well

Like richy say's get yourself a coupler gauge. Personally I don't use un-coupler magnets I think there more of a hassle than there worth. If you remove the magnet all together your issue will almost correct it self right away

I would stay with bachmannn's suggestion of 22R turns I would not go any lower.

You should be able to swap them out. My only concern would be if the chassis design changed at all if not you should be able to make the changes.

Your Lighted Car's look nice & will add a nice touch to your layout...

Quote from: J3a-614 on January 17, 2017, 11:24:24 AM
HoModeler, could you provide some details on the kit and the railroad you're building?  In particular, what era are you modeling, and what geographic area?  Although a lot of things are similar in an industry like coal mining, certain practices may vary depending on the location.

For instance, large piles of coal on the ground at a mine are rarities in West Virginia (where I'm from) because they represent inventory that isn't doing anything, and in any event, in the narrow valleys here there isn't room for them!  Most likely such coal stocks will be at an end user (such as a power plant) or at a transfer point (such as a rail-barge terminal).

Hello & thank your for your response
My Layout is mainly 50's to late 70's I model the PRR & Lehigh Valley RR I live in Bethlehem PA & Home of the Black Diamond Passenger Route... My Layout is pretty much Freelanced & my Buildings are pretty close to ERA correct in years. But I run all PRR & LVRR rolling stock & Loco's on exception of a UP Big boy steam engine...

I am thinking of making 2 Bin's for coal piles right now my coal mine is just the building & 2 tracks... The kit coal mine is a non Bachmann kit so I do not want to get flagged so I am not going to say what kit it is..
I thank you in your post & hope this helps you help me lol

Hello everyone... I decided to add another industry for switching on my layout I am building a Coal Mine from a kit I bought at my HS. I have already started building the add-on section to my layout & track my question is when I get that far how would I go about making a few STOCK PILES of Coal & the items to use to make the piles & where to place in accordance to the building...My Coal Mine Kit has a 2 track setup.

Any help on this will help Thanks

Quote from: RAM on January 14, 2017, 03:42:52 PM
I wish I could find a deal like that at a local hobby shop.  In fact I wish I could find a local hobby shop.  About an 80 mile trip to find any kind of hobby shop.

You can always order from Amazon.com